Congratulations on completing your PLAB examinations and GMC registration. It gets even more exciting from here on. Job hunting from outside the UK without NHS experience can be a bit tricky, especially since prior UK experience appears to be an advantage. Additionally, employers would rather employ a doctor who they do not have to sponsor from outside the United Kingdom. The focus of this article is to discuss non-training jobs.
Below is a brief explanation on how this works:

SPONSORSHIP

Certain jobs in the United Kingdom are on a ‘shortage occupations’ list. You can access this list here. It is basically a list of occupations in the UK where there is shortage of staff. Organisations requiring staff in these occupations/roles are permitted to employ staff from outside the UK. To do this, they need to secure a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) from the government which they can then use to employ workers for those roles from outside the UK. People employed from outside the UK for these roles are offered a special visa called a skilled worker Visa.

SKILLED WORKER VISA

Most shortage occupations are eligible for a skilled workers visa. Doctors from outside the United Kingdom are employed on the skilled worker visa. As a doctor, this visa allows you come to the UK with your partner and children as ‘dependants’. It usually takes about 3 weeks to get a decision from the time of application, unless you apply for priority visa which takes about 5 working days, or super priority service which usually guarantees a decision by the end of the next working day. These timeframes can be longer if the home office needs more information from you about your application.

APPLYING FOR JOBS

You can apply for jobs by yourself easily on NHS jobs website or via an agency. There are numerous agencies that you can contact regarding getting a job in the NHS, but this is the road least traveled as most people apply themselves.

Applying by yourself is very easy and straightforward. Go to the NHS jobs website, you will be required to create an account and set up your profile; a fairly lengthy process which stores all the information you provide and subsequently autofills all the job applications you make from that account with the information you have already provided, leaving you with only a little extra to add to complete your application each time you apply for a job. The website has a lot of details including video tutorials on how to create and manage your account, apply for jobs, and respond to job offers here.

There is a massive need for doctors in the UK so there are many job openings available to you. That said, it is important to note that there is a lot of competition in this space now due to more people coming to work in the UK. Taking this into consideration, it is advisable to apply to as many jobs as possible. When searching for jobs on the website you can use any of the following job roles as you will be qualified for any of these post-housemanship:

• FY2/Foundation year 2
• SHO/ Senior house officer
• CT1/Core trainee 1
• CT2/core trainee 2
• ST1/Specialty trainee 1
• ST2/Specialty trainee 2
• JCF/Junior clinical fellow
• Junior doctor

Bear in mind that applying for the trainee roles does not mean that you will be working as a trainee doctor acquiring clinical skills as the process for applying for training posts for the purpose of training is different. If you get a CT or ST role, you will be working as a doctor in that capacity, meaning you will be expected to undertake the responsibilities of a doctor at that level.

You can also filter your job search based on location. This is particularly useful if you have a specific area of the UK in mind where you would like to live and work. See section on choosing a location to live and work in the UK including factors to consider when doing so.

You can begin applying for jobs right after PLAB 2 examinations. It is advisable to applying for as many as 100 - 200 jobs. About 10% or more of your applications will likely go through to interview level.

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE WORK

You can also apply to work in private healthcare. Private hospitals employ via agencies and not directly like the NHS does. There are two common agencies that employ doctors from outside the UK. RMO international and NES Healthcare . Both of them employ doctors to work in private hospitals, and sometimes NHS hospitals. You can see our section on private healthcare work (RMO) here

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Every job has a clearly written person specifications and job description. Most people don’t pay attention to this but it is quite important that you do. This will enable you to tailor your work experience to fit the requirements of the job you are applying for. You can adjust your CV to highlight those clinical skills and qualifications that you possess that have been listed by the employer as ‘desired’ skills or qualifications.

INTERVIEWS

As you will be applying for jobs from outside the UK, your interviews will be remote via teams, zoom or skype. It is advisable to ensure you have stable internet connection and a quiet room where you can focus without distractions. At the interviews, as expected, you will be asked questions around clinical scenarios. They may also ask questions about your ability to work in teams, your hobbies and how you unwind and de-stress. Questions may also come around your future plans and goals. They quite often also ask about prior work experience and clinical skills. You can see our section on interviews for more details here.